So this week US Navy SEALs did what they do best, better than any fighting force in the world. They swooped into a foreign country, a hostile place, and in darkness, entered an unknown building and killed the most evil terrorist in history. I was fascinated by the reactions when the news broke ... both extremes were unexpected. The people who went to the White House to celebrate and brought a beach ball to throw around, and the people who were deeply saddened by his loss. Saddam Hussain was a violent, repressive dictator who killed and tortured his own people at will, gassed the Kurds in northern Iraq, allowed his sons to make Baghdad their own personal real life Grand Theft Auto game and fired missiles at Israel in a vain effort to destroy them. He would have been more successful with that last bit, but firing SCUDS out of the trunk of your Volvo isn’t all that accurate. He was captured, tried for crimes against humanity , convicted and executed. I honestly do not recall anyone being sad about it, mourning the loss of life. Osama Bin Laden wanted to kill you. He was the unrepentant killer of thousands of people all over the world ... it wasn’t just America he hated ... Saudis, Jews, Shia Muslims, and heretics (a fairly large and extremely subjective group) all were on the hit list.
It dawned on me that people were not aware who he was, that they did not know his history, so here’s the quick version. Osama Bin Laden is the son of an extremely wealthy Saudi construction giant, he was educated in Saudi Arabia and as a young man traveled to Pakistan in order to help the people of Afghanistan fight against the Soviet Union (they had invaded in 1979). Even then, he was not on the front lines, but instead used his families money and influence to recruit fighters to go to Afghanistan. This is during the cold war so of course the United Stated sent money and supplies to “Pakistan” where the ISI (Pakistani secret police) turned them over to Bin Laden and his fighters, provided training and unleashed them on the Soviets. After a decade of futility, with the Soviet Union nearing collapse, the Soviets withdrew and Osama returned to Saudi Arabia where he was greeted as a hero. And then a year later when the Saudis allowed the US to enter and use Saudi territory to fight against Iraq, Bin Laden turned on his king. His ensuing rhetoric against the monarchy got him deported to Sudan and got his passport revoked. He then set out on his next plan, to assassinate the president of Egypt (Hossani Mubarak, remember him?) which failed. He forms a group with his new Egyptian friends and they set out to kill by bombing ships and embassies and civilian targets ... when Sudan decided they didn’t want him around either, he went to the only place on earth that actually wanted the guy around, Afghanistan. Which is when he came up with and executed the 9/11 attacks. And the rest I hope you know, we invaded Afghanistan to root out all the terrorists that had been flown there from all over the world by Bin Laden so they could hide out and 10 years later he was found and was executed.
He never relented from his views or his intentions, he was an unrepentant perpetrator of crimes against humanity, there was no trial necessary, he admitted it multiple times, he was proud of it, and he, having publically plead guilty, received his sentence. So I don’t get the mourners.
On the other hand, he has been hiding and running for a decade, and you know people ... the other terrorists from his group couldn’t go near him, nor did he want them to, it was too risky. So although his organization continued unabated, he was not involved in what was happening, he was trying to stay alive. Al quaida exists and wants you to die a violent death whether Bin Laden is alive or dead. So I don’t get the rejoicing. His death represents the delivery of justice, but in no way changes anything. The war rages on, Islamic terrorists are still scattered all over the globe and are plotting carnage and destruction ... Bin Laden has been out of the picture ever since he became the most wanted man on earth. So, while I certainly do not mourn his loss I do not either rejoice in his death. My brothers and sisters are still half way around the world, in a hostile country, risking their lives every minute in the effort to keep the terrorists from killing my children, or you, or your mother. Which, make no mistake, they want to. America and her sons and daughters represent evil to these people because of our “fornication, homosexuality, intoxication, gambling and usury”, not to mention our decades of meddling in the affairs of Muslim countries. Cold war remnants.
So, where’s the conspiracy in it? There isn’t on. Bin Laden was found and was killed and was tossed off the side of a naval ship once his identity was confirmed. Clean, simple, the picture of American military efficiency.
The interesting part is this, while we are all looking at the successes in the east, the facts are coming out about a tragedy in the American South West. It seems that the Justice Department, an arm of the executive, had their stepson the ATF conduct an operation in an effort to bring Mexican drug cartels to justice. The plan goes like this, recruit US gun distributors to sell to Mexican cartel mules, then track the weapons they purchase and arrest cartel leaders. Great plan. But it all went south, they lost the guns and the cartels used them to kill a multitude of people including two US Border Patrol agents. Well done. So, what does the Justice Department do when it comes to light that US dealers sold the weapons recovered at the scene? They do what any honest, honorable person would do ... publically condemn the dealers that they recruited, call them out by name, besmirch the reputations of the men who objected to being involved in selling assault rifles to foreign criminals ... well, now the truth is coming out, and it looks as if the plan and the coverup may go all the way to the top on this one. Maybe it’s a coincidence that just as congressional hearings looking into the botched operation were set to begin we have some attention grabbing news ....................over here. Or maybe the executive would like for you to talk about something other than the Justice Department assisting in the murders of two of your fellow Americans, the Justice Department’s attempted cover up and their refusal to hand over subpoenaed documents that show who was aware and who authorized this debacle of a mess. Don’t worry, the out of touch, ineffective, figurehead of global Islamic Jihad has been brought to justice... jihad will go on, and the cover up of the cover up will work if you let it.
Politicians operate with complete immunity from their crimes because you let them, their games work because you look where the media tells you to look. Your government is directly responsible for the deaths of two men attempting to serve this nation, and rather than admit it, they are trying to hide it and hoping you don’t notice. Please notice, please care, please don’t elect more of the same every time you go to the polls.
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Well put my friend I agree wholeheartedly. I have been dealing with mixed emotions over the last few days trying to pin point exactly how I feel about the death of Bin Laden. Like you said it's definitely not overwhelming joy. There's plenty of people out there who want to do us harm and it's only a matter of time before someone or multiple individuals step up to the plate and try to gain the title of the face of modern terrorism. What they might do to attain that goal frightens me. So though the body of Osama Bin Laden may have been well ventilated by Navy SEALS(Go Navy!) his spirit of hatred and violent ideal which he stand for live on and will continue to do so as long as people allow their religious beliefs dictate their behavior. But that's a topic for a different day.
ReplyDeleteSo happiness is out how about sadness and mourning over the loss of human life? I think a simple no will suffice for that side of the emotional house. I guess my personal feelings are still floating around relief in the belief that justice had been done in it's most basic, an eye for an eye, form and suspicious awareness for what's to come.
Terrorism will not come to an abrupt halt due to the loss of one man. There are more dangerous people in the world that Osama Bin Laden who reside closer to us than we'd like. While there is no concrete definition of what makes up a terrorist. Since 1994, the United Nations General Assembly has condemned terrorist acts using the following political description of terrorism: "Criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the general public, a group of persons or particular persons for political purposes are in any circumstance unjustifiable, whatever the considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or any other nature that may be invoked to justify them." This definition brings to mind certain groups that "work" in an American city that rhymes with Washington DC. While Osama make have been a more overtly violent foe beware the beast within my friends, they are becoming more powerful everyday.....